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Alona Bondarenko(Ukraine) Biography

Birthdate:

13-August-1984

Birthplace:

Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine

Height:

5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)

Plays:

Right-Handed

Turned Pro:

1999

Alona Bondarenko comes from a tennis dynasty. Her younger sister Kateryna Bondarenko also plays on the WTA Tour and in 2008 the sisters teamed up to win the Australian Open doubles title. Prior to that Bondarenko had played doubles with her older sister Valeria.

She was introduced to tennis at the age of 5-years-old by her parents Vladimir and Natalia who began coaching her. Her mother now shares the coaching duties with Nikolay Dyachok.

He has a special place in the family because Alona married him on July 8th 2010. They began dating in 2007 and in November 2009 they announced they intended to marry in July the following year.

They had a very low-key wedding in a registry office where they both wore blue jeans and T-shirts with "Just Married" written on them before Bondarenko became the traditional bride for the reception for 300 guests.

She donned a beautiful white gown with a long train and three bridesmaids similarly dressed which included Kateryna. Because the wedding was so private the press are unsure whether she actually married in the jeans and T-shirt or whether that was her private joke and she did in fact wear the dress for the ceremony. The newly-weds honeymooned for a week in Crete following the wedding.

At the 2010 Australian Open Bondarenko caused a big upset when she knocked out World Number 1 Jelena Jankovic in the 3rd round going further in a Grand Slam than she had ever gone before.

She knew she was playing well because she had just won the Moorilla Hobart International the week before, dominating 2nd seed Shahar Peer in the Final crushing her in two sets.

At the Mutua Madrilena Madrid in 2010 she had the biggest win of her career when she beat World Number 2 (who became World Number 1) Caroline Wozniacki 6-2/6-3 in the second round only to be beaten by 13th seed Li Na in round 3.

She could not keep up the momentum although she reached the 3rd round of both the French Open and Wimbledon but she lost to Jelena Jankovic both times.

2011 has not started well for Bondarenko. She was unable to defend her title at Hobart and she had to withdraw from the Australian Open having just had surgery on her right knee for the second time.

Alona Bondarenko speaks Ukrainian, Russian and English and she likes listening to Russian pop music. She relaxes on tour by playing chess and as well as a new husband she also has a cat Pers.